


transient

by celestial_lights



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pining, zine fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25553389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_lights/pseuds/celestial_lights
Summary: Minato’s eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. The prospect of him and his team needing others to come in and take over normally would have irritated him, because he knew SEES was capable, but in that moment, he felt nothing but gratitude.And maybe a little embarrassment, because damn, not only did their leader bring his full team to save them, but he was actually kinda cute-Wait, what?In which Minato falls hard for Souji.(canon compliant, follows the events of the first PQ game)
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Seta Souji, Narukami Yu/Yuuki Makoto, Persona 3 Protagonist/Persona 4 Protagonist
Kudos: 57





	transient

Things were looking pretty bad for SEES.

They were completely trapped, there were _far_ too many Shadows to defeat, and this was just the Queen’s minions they had been going at. Even with the added power of Zen and Rei, it still wasn’t enough to make any considerable progress.

_Dammit_ , Minato thought. He tried to stay focused so he could coordinate their next attack, to come up with any strategy that might give them a fair fighting chance-

Then the massive doors behind them opened. Minato jolted in surprise before risking a glance behind him. _If it’s more Shadows, I swear…_ he thought momentarily, before he caught a glimpse of the people ( _wait, people?_ ) standing in the doorway.

The entire team sighed in relief, grateful for any reinforcements. 

The man in the center, presumably their leader, stepped forward with a confident stride, moving his hand covering his face to reveal a smirk.

“We’ll talk later, we’ve come to help,” he said, calm and collected, much unlike Minato right now.

Minato’s eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. The prospect of him and his team needing others to come in and take over normally would have irritated him, because he knew SEES was capable, but in that moment, he felt nothing but gratitude.

And maybe a little embarrassment, because _damn_ , not only did their leader bring his full team to save them, but he was actually kinda cute-

_Wait, what?_

* * *

After defeating the Queen and her minions, and proper introductions made, both teams decided to make the best of a bad situation and walk around the cultural festival they were seemingly stuck in (“team building exercises,” Yukari called it). 

“So… Souji-kun, right?” Minato asked, seemingly nonchalant. The two leaders seemed to naturally gravitate toward each other, much to the amusement of their friends. 

Souji insisting on the two of them going through the festival by themselves didn’t help either. But, Minato managed to keep it together, once again putting on his stoic, disinterested façade to hide the fact he was _screaming_ on the inside.

“Yep,” Souji replied. “You’re going to be our leader, I assume?” he then asked. The two were wandering aimlessly as they made conversation.

Minato shrugged. “I guess so.”

Souji huffed, slightly exasperated. “I mean, that’s what everyone seemed to agree on back there. Are you okay with that?”

Minato shrugged yet again. “It doesn’t really bother me.” If he kept up with the short, curt responses, he wouldn’t end up embarrassing himself later.

“If you say so.”

The conversation ended there, with the two continuing to walk down the hall. Occasionally, one of them would stop at a display to look at it, but there wasn’t anything that really caught their eye. Not to mention, they both realized they felt strangely pressed for time, even though time didn’t quite work here the same way it did back home.

Their stroll continued in tense silence, at least until Minato’s stomach started audibly growling.

Souji merely laughed, light and airy and _no Minato, stop thinking everything he does is cute._

“Want to get something to eat?” he then asked, as if they weren’t just bickering.

Minato shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “Yeah. That’d… actually be nice,” he admitted.

Souji cast his glance down at Minato, looking at him with warm, welcoming eyes and a soft smile. 

“What do you want, then? My treat,” he said.

“Don’t care,” Minato quickly mumbled, pointedly looking at the opposite wall. This was so _weird_. He never had romantic feelings for… well, anyone really, but there was something about Souji that flipped everything he knew upside-down. 

Souji appeared a bit puzzled at his reaction, but continued on regardless. “Well, I saw a takoyaki stand back there, why don’t we get some?”

All Minato could do was say a quick ‘sure’ before Souji actually yanked his arm, darting toward the stand behind them. Once they got there, Minato glared at him until he caught his attention.

“Huh?” Souji asked. “Oh. Sorry about that, I got a bit excited,” he said, his hand rubbing the back of his head before placing an order for both of them.

Minato briefly contemplated his surroundings. This particular section of the hall had no one in it besides the student manning the stand. He briefly pondered how odd the lone student’s presence was before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

When he turned around after nearly jumping out of his skin, he saw Souji holding a small container of takoyaki out to him.

“Like I said, my treat,” he said in between bites.

… _This is kinda like a date_ , Minato’s mind filled in for him before he put that line of thinking to a quick stop by shoving a piece of takoyaki in his mouth, only to nearly spit it out because it was scorching hot.

And Souji had the nerve to laugh at him again.

* * *

It still took all of Minato’s willpower to keep it together through the next labyrinth, branded as a ‘group date café’, which Minato immediately knew spelled trouble. While having to actually fight Shadows combined with strategizing took the edge off, somehow, his mind always wandered back to Souji. 

Mainly because Mitsuru insisted upon having Minato answer the increasingly personal questions to find his ‘destined partner’ in order to continue through the labyrinth. The beginnings of a plea to let literally anyone else do it was met with an icy glare that told him Mitsuru’s decision was final.

Damn him for volunteering to be the leader and damn this labyrinth for making him do this just to get through it.

Nobody needed to know about his developing… _crush_ (he grimaced at the word) on Souji. Still, while he never believed in destiny, or fate, or whatever, his desire to be closer to Souji, to be _with_ him, felt more honest and raw than anything else he felt toward someone.

…he really shouldn’t have been surprised when the disembodied robot voice announced Souji’s name at the end of the labyrinth. The second his name was announced, Minato felt like he was drowning – he could see everyone’s equally surprised looks, but he was instead overwhelmed by his heart pounding and the fact he could barely breathe.

He nervously glanced over at Souji, whose face was slowly getting redder at all the attention on him, although his overall expression remained stoic, if a bit confused.

Trapdoors beneath them opened, and before they knew it, they were in another part of the labyrinth, one they hadn’t seemed to explore yet.

Alone.

_Again._

Minato’s anxiety began to turn into full-fledged panic when he noticed that he couldn’t contact Fuuka and Rise either.

“Hey,” Souji said. “Are you doing okay?” His voice, soft and genuinely filled with concern, pulled Minato back to reality, if only for a moment.

“Huh? Y-yeah, sorry,” he quickly apologized as he tried to shift his focus toward not hyperventilating.

Souji wasn’t quite taking it. He looked over Minato quizzically, hand on his chin and eyebrows furrowed for a few seconds, before he seemed content with the response. “Okay, just let me know if things get to be too much. I know being cut off from everyone is… less than ideal,” he said.

Minato nodded silently in agreement. “Yeah, let’s just… continue on.”

The next ten minutes were perhaps the most incredibly awkward and stressful of Minato’s life. The room’s atmosphere only got weirder and weirder, what with all the talk about love and the gaudy decorations and the _life-size cutout of him and Souji in wedding outfits_ – he wanted nothing more than to get out of there, and fast. The robot voice from before was trying to push them into a _wedding chapel_ and Minato just _couldn’t take it anymore._

Of course, he also forgot Fuuka warned him about the labyrinth’s guardian being in the next area. He thanked every god in existence that the others finally caught up to them, because he was in no shape to fight. Instead, he stayed behind and delegated orders to everyone else. He knew placing himself on the front lines would spell disaster. They seemed to be doing a decent job chipping away at the guardian, but he could tell his team was getting exhausted.

Minato began going through his available options, what Personas the others had that would be most effective against the guardian’s ever-changing moves, but he couldn’t seem to focus with the ever-persistent buzz of anxiety in the back of his mind. The last thing he remembered was beginning to make orders to swap out teammates before he was struck by something and everything went black.

* * *

Minato opened his eyes to the bright, fluorescent lights of what he assumed was one of Yasogami High’s classrooms. He didn’t remember much of what had happened prior to being hit.

“Did… did I pass out?” he asked to no one in particular, hoping he wasn’t left alone.

“For a minute or so, you got hit with an electric attack at the very end there. Are you feeling okay?” a voice responded. It had the same deep, comforting tone he was getting accustomed to hearing.

“Souji?” Minato asked. He turned his head to the side, seeing the boy kneeling next to him. 

_Okay, this is too much, now this stupid crush is affecting my duties as leader,_ he thought.

Souji’s eyes seemed to brighten at the fact Minato was finally awake and well. “I’m right here. Sorry you had to wake up on the floor, we couldn’t exactly find the nurse’s office,” he said.

Minato groaned as he sat himself up. Souji was right, the tiled floors of the classroom weren’t kind to his back at all. He worked his current situation through his head. He was fighting, then he got knocked out, and now he was alone with only Souji keeping him company.

_Maybe this would be a good opportunity to… you know. Get this off your chest._

“Um,” Minato began. Souji looked at him expectantly, nodding his head so he could continue.

“I think… my problem earlier, and really my entire problem with being distracted during battle… is possibly because of you,” he finally said. 

“Me?” Souji asked. He seemed genuinely surprised, but thankfully not offended.

Minato took a deep breath, already regretting bringing the subject up at all. “Yeah.” He reached for one of Souji’s hands and held it in his own, mindlessly rubbing the other’s knuckles with his thumb. “I like you. More than like, if you couldn’t tell by the ‘destined partner’ thing. And I don’t know how much longer we have together, but I wanted you to know, because it’s been driving me crazy.”

He braced for the worst.

What he got instead was Souji brushing his bangs aside so he could lean down and kiss him on the forehead. 

“Was that all?” Souji asked. 

Minato’s face flushed pink, although he’d never admit he was actually embarrassed by the display of affection. “Don’t make this even more awkward,” he grumbled.

“Minato,” Souji said. Just hearing his given name coming from Souji made him weak. No one had ever said his name with such affection before. “I knew you liked me, probably since the beginning. I was just waiting for you to say something, because I realized you weren’t ready to bring it up. I didn’t want to pressure you into something if you weren’t sure,” he explained.

Minato’s eyes widened. “So, does that mean…”

“Yes, I like you too.”

Minato felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He was so elated that Souji accepted his feelings, let alone _returned_ them.

Yet, something stuck in the back of his mind, unwilling to let him merely enjoy this moment. What did this mean for them going forward? What if this… relationship (was it even official?) got in the way of their goal here? _What if_ -

“You look like you’re thinking about something,” Souji said nonchalantly.

Minato shrugged his shoulders, pushing those thoughts aside for now. “It’s nothing important. Let’s get back to the others, I’m feeling fine now,” he said as he slowly made his way to his feet. Souji held his hands out, fearing he might fall, only for Minato to take them and pull him into a tight hug instead.

“Thank you,” he whispered into Souji’s collar. 

_It’ll be okay_.

* * *

And so their relationship grew with the time they had left together. It really wasn’t a secret – after all, their time here was temporary and they wanted to make the most of it. Yet, as they approached the Clock Tower and made their way up, the reality that this was going to all end soon began to sink in.

When they finally reached that end, solved the mystery of the tower and of Zen and Rei’s past, no one was truly ready to go back. 

Staring at the now opened doors in the Velvet Room, all of the others reluctantly said their goodbyes and left, ultimately leaving Minato and Souji behind.

“Well, this is it…” Minato said, breaking the silence. “You did great, Vice-Leader,” he teased, with a hint of sincerity behind it. They _did_ work well together, after all.

Souji looked at Minato, then to the door his friends just went through, then back at Minato. He looked confused, as if he were lost. Minato’s face fell – he knew this was inevitable, that they would have to part ways, but he couldn’t stand his boyfriend looking so damn _depressed._

“Hey,” he softly said, cupping Souji’s face in his hands. 

“I… I don’t want to go,” Souji said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Minato didn’t want to go either. But he had his friends to protect, enemies to defeat, questions he couldn’t leave unanswered. He couldn’t drop all of that, and he knew Souji couldn’t either.

“We’ll… we’ll see each other again, okay?” Minato said in an attempt to console his boyfriend, although he really didn’t know if what he said was true. They lived in different cities, different _universes_. If they could meet again, it would be a miracle.

They could still hope.

“Promise?” Souji asked as he wrapped his arms around Minato’s waist to pull him in closer. The two held each other, taking in each other’s warmth.

“Promise,” Minato said, moving his arms over Souji’s neck. “Kiss me. One more time.”

They leaned in, meeting each other halfway. It wasn’t their first kiss, not by a long shot, but it still felt just as special. They melted into each other, memorizing and savoring the moment for as long as possible. Each kiss grew more desperate the longer they continued on.

When they pulled apart, gasping for breath, Souji looked into Minato’s eyes with a fierce determination.

“We _will_ see each other again. I know it,” he said.

Minato gave him a rare, unabashed smile. “Yeah,” he replied. “…I think our friends are waiting for us.”

The two separated, standing in front of their respective doors once more. As they moved forward, Minato swore he heard Souji whisper an ‘I love you’ right before they stepped past the threshold.

**Author's Note:**

> finally getting around to clearing out my folder of old persona fic i wrote, this one was one i wrote around this time last year for the fools in love zine. i was super excited to be able to write my otp for a protag shipping zine, bankita is still pretty much my brand in the persona fandom lmao
> 
> s/o to everyone else that worked hard on this zine, it ended up being lovely!
> 
> as for future projects, i think i have one or two persona fics left that i need to clean up and maaaaaybe upload, my fic writing time right now is split between a couple of fan projects over in the fire emblem fandom, so who knows when i'll get that done oops. anyway, i hope you enjoy this one, as a treat


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